Winning Her Over
by KayaBellezir
Summary: A big recital's coming up for Casey, and just to add to the stress, Derek's acting weird. Almost even -- nice. And flirty. Can he really win her over, or is this just one conquest too tough for Triple-D? DASEY
1. Chapter 1

Casey rose up on releve, relishing the smooth pine floorboards under her feet as she prepared for a triple pirouette. It was a dream come true to be able to dance in her own bedroom—she couldn't believe that her mom and George had stripped out the carpet for her birthday. Now it was like a studio of her own in her room, what with the new ballet shoes, music speakers, and soundtracks that she had bought with her savings.

Not that she could hear her music, over all the metal coming from the adjacent room. Thankfully, she was feeling too focused right now to go yell at him. She had had three tests today, all in a row, and _this _was how she was getting over the stress. She had been so anxious studying during lunch that she hadn't even been able to rant to Paul. 

Her music, which she could faintly hear over Derek's trash, struck a cord and she pushed up onto her left foot, arms in perfect form, spinning—once—twice—

On the third revolution, the 'music' blasting from Derek's room hit a crescendo and Casey lost the tempo of her own song. Her hands flew out to catch her fall, but most of her weight fell on her left knee. 

Wooden floors were a _lot_more painful than carpet. Casey winced and massaged her knee, before pushing her a few sweaty flyaway hairs out of her face and rising tentatively to her feet. Once she established that it could (barely) hold her weight, she limped through her open door and over to Derek's. 

"Der-ek!" Casey shouted, yanking open the door with all her weight on her right foot. 

His office-like desk chair revolved slowly, away from the glowing blue light of an internet gaming sight. When she could see his face, his eyebrow was cocked, sneer present as always, while his fingers arched together like the typical movie nemesis.

"What do you want, Space Case?" Derek's tone made it quite evident that his intrusion was not worth his time. 

"I don't see _why _you insist upon keeping your music _so _loud that no one else in this house can hear their own music!"

"Oh puh-lease," he drawled, "As if you can call that chick shit _music. _Girls can't sing."

"And you call that Busting Benja—"

"_Breaking _Benjamin,_Breaking," _Derek interrupted. "If you're going to mock something, at least get the name right."

Casey threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "The point is, you have to turn down that trash. It's so loud I lost the beat of _my _music and fell!"

"Klutzilla strikes again, eh?" Despite his words, Derek spun back around in his chair and pulled up the iTunes tab, then ever-so-carefully turned it down two decibels. "Satisfied?"

"Der-EK!" Casey took a step forwards, forgetting about her knee, and winced when it rolled beneath her. 

"Alright, Case, don't get your leotard all in a twist," Derek sneered, turning the speakers off, so there was blessed silence for what seemed like the first time in the years she'd lived with the Venturis.

Casey hopped on one foot over to his bed, where she collapsed. "I do _not _wear leotards." In fact, she was wearing blue sweats and a black sports bra, a workout outfit that she realized exposed a lot of skin. She sucked in her stomach while leaning over to inspect her knee, which was rapidly turning a mottled purple and black. 

"So I noticed," muttered Derek. She shuddered in disgust; her step brother could be such a pig. 

"Look princess," he started, "Are you going to get out of here or just set up your new castle here?"

"I'm going!" Casey stood and then found herself on the floor again, cradling her knee. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she insisted, trying to stand without grimacing. No need for Derek to see her actually looking weak.

But a moment later she found herself cradled against her step brother's chest while he scooped her up, turning sideways to fit through the narrow doorway. "Wrap your arms around my neck," he commanded. "I don't want to drop you."

"Ew!" Casey exclaimed. "That's disgusting, I'm not one of your blonde bimbos, put me down!" Besides the fact that he was her awful stepbrother, she had danced for over an hour—she did not smell good enough to lift her arms up. 

Squirming, she tried to pull out of Derek's arms, but he was holding her too tightly. "Not a chance Case."

"Derek, since this wasn't _directly _your fault this time, I'm not going to get you in trouble with my mom and George. So just let me down, okay?"

"Your wish is my command, _princess_."

With that he deposited her—gently, not by way of dropping, as she had expected—onto her own bed, then lifted her right leg gently (she still winced with a twinge of pain) to place one of her pillows underneath it. 

_What? Was Derek actually being _nice?

"Look Derek, what are you trying to get from me?" Casey demanded. "There's nothing in my room you want, and you're not getting my gratitude."

"I just…thought it was time to be a little nicer. Like a guy should treat a girl."

"Oh," she said, trying to think what he might be planning against her. 

"Rest up, okay Case? Your recital's coming up." With that, he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

She stared up at him in confusion. 

_WHAT? _

Derek seemed a little mystified as well, before his typical sneer came back.

"–Wouldn't want you to be even more of a disaster than usual."

Back to normal.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed--every time I receive a new one I literally dance in my seat! (it's very sexy). Keep them coming!

**Disclaimer: If I owned Life With Derek, it would be set in Saudi Arabia, fourteenth century. Derek would be a prince, and for his sixteenth birthday his father King George buys him a servant girl named Casey. She's an exotic dancer, a perfectionist, and Derek's personal sex slave… Unfortunately, LWD is still set in Canada, where prostitution and slavery are both illegal.**

"It was a bet," Casey announced.

Emily turned to her friend in confusion—after all, the movie had been playing for fifteen minutes without either of them saying a word. "What are you talking about, Casey?"

"A bet! It's the only logical explanation. Derek must have made a bet about kissing me with Sam, and he got out of it by kissing me on the forehead. It's the only logical way that that would have happened!"

"Casey…you and Derek hate each other," Emily said in exasperation, wanting to return to Casa Blanca. "Why would he make a bet where he had to kiss _you?"_

But Casey had already worked that out during the opening song. "He must have been bragging about all the girls at school liking him, and Sam told him to prove it. So they made a bet of who could kiss a certain girl first, and Sam chose me as the girl because he thought Derek wouldn't do it!"

Emily gave up completely on trying to hear the movie over Casey's tirade and hit the pause button. "Casey, you're his stepsister. Not even Derek would go through with a bet like that."

"What about the time Derek got George put on probation at work by pretending his boss was a telemarketer? _And _he almost sat through a punk concert so I couldn't go on that date with Trevor—"

"Okay, okay. So maybe it was a bet. But why does it matter? It's not like Derek kissed you on the lips. I kiss Dimi on the forehead all the time."

"Dimi isn't seventeen!"

Emily sighed, running a hand through her curls to brush them out of her face. "Look Casey, that isn't the point. Stop dwelling on this and just be glad that Derek was being nice to you for once."

"Emily, I don't dwell on things. I'm not a dweller! If I had a list of things I don't do, 'dwelling' would be at the top. Actually…I do have a list of things I don't do…and I'm going to put 'dwelling' right above football. In capital letters." She breathed for the first time since the beginning of her rant. "In _big_ capital letters."

"Casey…"

"Oh." Casey sighed ruefully. "So that's what you meant by dwelling. Okay, so Casey McDonald is a dweller. But can we get to the problem here?"

Emily waited to respond while Lizzie and Edwin came running down the stairs, arguing about what to do for their joint birthday party that year. When they were safely out of earshot, having left to go to the local pool, she asked, "Casey, what problem are you talking about? I don't see how this is an issue. Just stop dwelling and forget about it."

Casey sighed, muttering, "I am _not _dwelling," under her breath, and grabbed the remote to play the movie again. Emily settled back into the couch, glad to have solved the problem.

Pacing the room, Casey muttered to herself, "Call him…don't call him…call him…don't call him…call him…" for several minutes before finally pulling out her phone. Dialing a number by heart, she listened to three rings before it finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Sam, it's Casey."

"Hey Casey, what's up?"

"I know calling you is kind of awkward, since we broke up a few months ago, but I really have to ask something. Did you and Derek make a bet about me?"

There was a pause. "Who told you? It was supposed to be a secret!"

"Oh—um—I don't know. I just heard it around somewhere."

"Well," Sam paused. "I'm sorry if it offended you. I didn't want to hurt you, I swear. No hard feelings?"

"Of course not!" Casey laughed, thinking, "Not towards you, at least."

"Anyway, I'm in the middle of a game of Babe Raider, so I'll see you at school, okay?"

"Yeah, it was good to talk to you, Sam. Want to meet for lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure. Bye, Casey."

"See you tomorrow!"

Derek pulled away from the vent in his room that connected to Casey's, prepared to barge in there and give her a piece of his mind. Although he had only gotten to hear the last minute of the conversation, what he _had _heard was Casey flirting and making plans with _Sam, _who she had broken up with months ago! And even worse, she was dating that idiot football player now.

It wasn't right for a girl to mess with a guy's emotions that way.

Yanking his door open, he strode down the hall to Casey's room and strode in.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" they both demanded at the same time.

Casey glared. "Der-_ek_, get out! You're so inconsiderate!"

"Me? Inconsiderate? You're the one messing with Sam's mind when you're dating that football dunce!"

Casey felt her face turn red with anger, and felt her fists clench. "What are you talking about? First of all, I would _never _cheat on Max, who is not a dunce, by the way. And you are the one messing with _my _mind. You pretend to be nice to me, and then I find out it was all for a bet!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb!" Casey exclaimed, shoving him backwards, only pushing him a single step back. "Sam just confirmed it!"

"Space Case…The only bet I've made about you with Sam lately is about how long it'll be before that scumbag dumps you."

"His _name _is _Max!" _Casey placed her hands on his chest and pushed, this time pushing him two steps. "And if this _isn't _about a bet, then _why _were you _pretending _to be nice to me?"

Derek smirked. "I'm always nice to pretty girls."

This time Casey pushed him so hard he hit her bedroom door. "Don't pretend I'm one of the blonde bitches you're hot for, okay?"

Derek grabbed her wrists and spun her so that she was the one pinned against the door. He leaned very, very close until she could feel his chest against hers every time she breathed, could feel his leg against her own (she still couldn't put weight on it) and had to look up to see his eyes, which suddenly seemed darker than usual.

Derek leaned in and Casey turned her head away in disgust. His lips were right next to her ear; she could feel his warm breath and it sent shivers down her spine.

"Sometimes," he whispered, "I get hot for brunette bitches."

**Hey, please review! I love getting feedback because I want to know what you guys think. Plus, I'll get the next chapter up by the time I get 12 reviews for this chapter. Hope you liked it!**


	3. Chapter 3

Flashback:

**Flashback: **

Derek leaned in and Casey turned her head away in disgust. His lips were right next to her ear; she could feel his warm breath and it sent shivers down her spine.

"Sometimes," he whispered, "I get hot for brunette bitches."

**Hey! Thanks so much for all the reviews—again, they make my day! That's Ash94leigh, twiinklestar, maggierose17, LexieCoop, LipsAreLuschious-Dasey4ev, clowneygirl Gotta Love Shoes, (Alexz), (Norah), (meh), ellie141516 Lanter, Lady Azura, Invidi, ilovejonas22, PinkJelly, Thanks-a-latte, chocolatebrownies, and PinkDough!**

**Disclaimer: I own Losers With Determination, Lasagna With Dessert, and Lungs Without Disease, but not the only LWD that matters. **

Derek watched as the look of fear on Casey's face changed to one of revulsion. "Der-_ek!" _she whispered loudly, and tried to push him out of the way so that she could escape from where she was trapped by the door. After years of hockey, however, he was not to be moved by a 120 pound girl. "Get out of my room if you're going to be disgusting and perverted! I'm your stepsister who you _hate_, remember?"

"Right, right…and I'm the evil stepbrother that you hate with all your heart?"

Casey was still struggling in vain to escape from the very warm, very uncomfortably close cage of Derek's arms. "Not—evil, but certainly not good!"

Sighing dramatically, Derek released Casey, who remained leaning against the door as if she had forgotten how to walk. "Well," he said, "We'll just have to work on changing that hatred part." He backed up a step and gestured towards the bed, as a suggestion that she move so that he could leave the room. "Princess?"

Her face was drawn. "My knee, I think it locked up—not that you care. There's a reason I had been staying off it, until you had to come in here! What am I going to do? My recital is _next Friday, _today is Sunday, and I can't even walk properly!"

"I'll carry you to your bed, okay?"

"No!" Casey exclaimed. "You've done enough already." She hobble-limped away from the door, hiding a wince every time the weight was on her injured knee.

Derek kept looking at her.

"Derek! Get out of my room, I don't want to see you or hear you or know you _exist. _You've ruined everything!"

Slamming the door behind him, Derek returned to the revitalizing darkness of his lair. Casey's pink and purple walls were just a little hard to take, coupled with her lack of response to flirting, her short temper, the way her chest heaved when she was mad…

Whoa. Bad Derek. No thinking about things that will take you in bad directions.

Gathering his resolve, Derek opened up his new laptop and referred immediately to his topmost Mozilla Firefox tab. He had been the midst of writing an email to Sally, who he had never ended up dating but had become good friends with. She was good with girl problems.

_Dear Sally:_

_Casey is just so infuriating—I can't get her out of my head. There have only been a few girls who had ever done that (your lovely self included). Most of my relationships are just casual flings, more of make out buddies than girlfriends. And they didn't mind, because that was what they wanted anyway. Actually, the ones who did want real relationships with guys were all the girls who had ever made a lasting memory on me._

_Casey McDonald. Her name is Southern hick but her look is New England prep, with the skirts just above the knee that hike up when she was sitting in class, the polos that hug her curves just the way _I_ want to, and the miles of loonnnnnnnng smooth legs that I would die for. (I'm sure this is TMI, but you told me to tell you everything)._

_But hey. It isn't all about looks. The reason I can't get Klutzilla out of his head is her fire—all our clashes and fights (preferably physical) made her different from the other girls, who would change any plans if I said the word. No, Casey doesn't take shit from anyone, and I respect that. And besides—that passion could be used in a rather different way…_

_There I am, going to bad places again. Somehow with Casey involved that keeps happening. Sorry Sal._

_But regardless, Casey most certainly does not want me. Or at least, she didn't know it yet. And after all my long experience with winning over girls, this is no going to be a piece of cake. Ideally, we start dating, and after two or three weeks I could successfully let her dump me and move on, sanity restored._

_Like I said, not a piece of cake. _

_Yesterday began the first day of Derek Venturi's biggest project ever. Casey came in screaming because she twisted her knee, apparently because of my music – don't ask me to explain the logic. I treated her as I normally do (badly) but when her knee was really hurting, I scooped her up and carried her to her room._

_She wasn't happy about this. Apparently it disgusted her—that's a bad sign. I told her that I wanted to start treating her right. When she was looking up at me, she looked so gorgeous, I wanted to kiss her right there, so I kissed her on the forehead. Apparently that confused her._

_By overanalyzing as usual, she convinced herself that Sam and I had made some kind of kissing bet – don't ask me to explain that either, the depths of Casey's mind are strange. What's worse is that she called him and he confirmed that there was a bet. What she doesn't know is that _that _particular wager was referring to a guesstimate of how long she would make it with Max._

_At the time, however, I didn't know what she was talking to Sam about. And…may have gotten jealous. It sounded flirtatious. And then we had a fight…and then I ended up pinning her against her door. _

_Hey. Don't look at me like that. I'm a man. It was instinct._

_I didn't do anything though—again, she was disgusted. _

_Unfortunately, in the process of this, Casey fucked up her knee even worse, and now she's spitting mad at me. Her recital is in nine days or something, and she is going _ape.

_So what should I do now, Sally? There is no way to get her out of my head. I need to date her, kiss her, touch her—for a few weeks, let her dump me, and then I'll be free again._

_HOW CAN I WIN HER OVER?_

_--Triple D._

Derek hit the send button, checked his email for any Facebook updates, filtered the college emails into the Spam folder, then logged off. Head in hands, he contemplated his next move, before deciding that he needed Sally's advice first, and to avoid Casey for now. But wait…Casey might be downstairs, and Derek wanted food. It wasn't that he was hungry—he just wanted it.

What Derek Wants, Derek Gets.

"_Edwin!" _he shouted, knowing the little twerp was sure to come running.

He paused for a moment, no Edwin. He called out again, even louder, but to no avail. That was strange—there was no way his little brother was questioning his authority. He must have gone out.

"Smarti!" he called, a little more affectionately.

A full ten minutes later, his kid sister showed up in the doorway, holding a Junie B. Jones book in one hand. "Derek," she whined. "Don't call me Smarti, I'm not little any more."

Was it his imagination, or did his little Marti actually just use Casey's emphasis on the second syllable of his name? Wow, that was obnoxious.

"You'll _always _be my little Smarti," he growled, before scooping her up, dumping her on the bed, and commencing a tickle – fest.

Although she pouted and tried to keep a straight face, she ended up giggling and begging him to stop, as she always did.

Why couldn't he have such a great relationship with all his sisters? Except—Casey would be begging him to continue…

**Hey guys! 23 reviews for last chapter! You all are amazing. So with this next chapter, I'll update as SOON as I get 25 reviews--I'll even write the chap in advance. So, review, let me know how you think it's going and suggestions you have for winning Casey over--I might use the best one!**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait between updates, hopefully that won't happen again

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait between updates, hopefully that won't happen again. Last week was insanely stressful, but it's better now. I've changed the title of this story, obviously. It fit better with my changing ideas for the story. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, and hope you enjoy this one!**

**By the way, a few years went by and ages and grades are a little different from the show:**

**Derek, 18, 12****th**

**Casey, 17, 12****th**

**Edwin, 14, 9****th**

**Lizzie, 14, 9****th**

**Marti, 10, 6****th**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Life With Derek, Derek would only wear shirts when he needed to cover up a hickey. Sadly this is not the case.**

_Dear Derek, _

_Okay. First of all, it will take all of my will power to ignore my morals and help you do this. After all, you know I'm not the speed-dating kind of girl, and I know that Casey isn't either. It would break her heart for you to only date her for a few weeks—if you can get her to accept, that is. _

_So in order for me to consent to this, I have a few rules for you. First of all, no sex. No taking clothes off, no hands under clothes, nothing. Got it? Also, if you ever were to cheat on her, I will kill you so painfully that you will still feel it in the afterlife. And thirdly, you have to help me win over the guy I like. I won't tell you who it is, but I've known him a few weeks, and he's really sweet. Unfortunately, he only knows me as a waitress. How can I get his attention?_

_Moving on to Casey—it looks like so far you've been messing with her emotions, which is good, but don't take it too far. It's important to get inside a girl's head. But don't make her think you're a psycho hormonal mood-changer. I know way too many guys like that, and it makes me want to offer them birth control to control their hormones._

_Okay, I get distracted easily. Sorry. So. Make sure you are sweet when she needs it; obviously she is stressed and in pain, so make life a little easier for her—when a guy acts like a boyfriend, she will think of him more in a boyfriend type of way. _

_Another rule—don't pull the jealousy card. It is overdone and lame, and will just convince Casey that you really are just a speed dater, and only flirting with her because she is an available girl. Well, available as in close by, not as in available. Speaking of which, you need to get her to break up with Max. You're on your own with that one._

_The most important thing to do is to talk to her. Casey is insightful, you can't just talk to her about sports and school and friends and family. I mean, you can, but not only that. She has dreams, she has real thoughts and feelings, and so do you. Let her know that._

_Good luck Derek, and update me soon!_

_Sally_

The first thing Derek saw upon opening his computer was the little flash of new mail, and he read through the email in less time than it normally took him to scan a page of Playboy. Then he read it again, wondering if he should make a list of the things he was supposed to do.

_Oh God, I'm turning into Casey! _he thought in horror. No lists.

But, the first thing to do was to figure out a plan for Operation: Break Up Max and Casey. He rested his hands, fingertips together in evil genius style, pondering this.

He was interrupted by his door opening. "Derek!"

Derek smiled and turned in his chair; it was Smarti.

"Hey Smarti, what do you need?" he asked.

"Der-ek!" she whined, "I'm not a little kid anymore, don't call me Smarti!"

"You keep telling me that," he explained, "but you'll always be my little Smarti. No matter how big you get."

She sighed, mock dramatically, but Derek could see the little sparkle in her eyes. Or maybe that was eye shadow—she was in the glittery makeup stage of girl-hood, which is her case was _purple _makeup. (There was a reason that his Dad and Nora didn't take her anywhere).

"Derek, I want ice cream and we don't have any. Can we go out to get some?"

"Oh, Smarti," he groaned, "I'm too tired to get out of my chair. You'll have to carry me."

Marti covered a giggle and grabbed at his hand, yanking him out of his chair. He mock-stumbled to his feet, swatting his bookshelf, bedside table, and doorframe as he went, pretending to be falling over. Marti giggled again and followed him out of the room.

"Hey family!" he called, voice echoing through the hallways, "We're going for ice cream, who's coming?"

From downstairs, George called, "I want ice cream!"

"Kids only, Dad," Derek laughed, "Edwin, you alive?"

"Busy!" he and Lizzie called simultaneously, followed by laughter.

"Creepy…" Derek muttered, before banging on Casey's door. "Case, you want ice cream?"

Casey was seated at her computer, some feminist chick crap blasting out of the speakers. She looked up when the door creaked.

"With you?" Casey asked. "I'd rather have the ice cream in my stomach, not my hair. Besides, I'm studying."

"Pleeeeeeeeease?" whined Marti from behind Derek.

Casey smiled indulgently. "Come on Marti, don't you want to spend time with your brother alone?"

"No, I want you too!" she exclaimed.

"Come on Case, you know you want to come."

Casey sighed, looked mournfully at her computer screen, before saving the word document and standing up. "Fine, but my hair better be ice-cream-free when I get back."

Marti cheered and danced down the stairs. Sweeping his arm out before him, Derek motioned that she should go first. Casey gave him a weird look but nevertheless skipped down the stairs, chasing after Marti.

It was a nice view. She was only limping a little now, favoring one knee.

"Bye 'rents!" Derek called out the door as he closed the door behind them all.

As he started up the car, with Casey in the passenger seat and Marti in the middle back, leaning forwards to see out the front, he realized for the thousandth time how much he loved driving. It was independence from his parents, the ultimate coolness.

He rolled down the windows and cranked up the volume—some old album of his dad's called Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac—and enjoyed the ride while Marti chattered to Casey about school and Dimi and her other friends.

Right now these were his two favorite girls in the world in the car. Of course, Marti would be the one still in the top slot a month from now. Casey would be replaced by the next fling, and he was okay with that. No girl had ever managed to maintain his interest for that long.

He pulled up to the little ice cream shop, parked, and scooped Marti out over the front console, and stepped out himself. Depositing her on the pavement, he walked around to open Casey's door while she fumbled with her purse.

"What are you plotting, Derek?" she demanded suspiciously.

He watched her pull down her just-above-the-knee skirt where it had ridden up as she climbed out, then realized that she was still waiting for an answer.

"Oh," he said, "nothing."

_Except getting in your pants, _he thought, before remembering Sally's rules. He would have to find a way around that.

She looked up at him in that adorable way of hers, unsure of whether to be mad or not. Thankfully, she couldn't read his mind. He smiled at her, and she tentatively smiled back, unsure of why she did so. He wanted to kiss her so bad, just lift up her chin and press his lips to hers—

"Derek, Casey," Marti exclaimed, "Stop flirting!"

The moment ended and they both jumped. "We weren't flirting," Casey said firmly. "Derek was just being weird."

He sighed and led the girls into the ice cream shop.

**Hey guys, hope you enjoyed it. More to come soon, hopefully Friday? Especially if you review.**

**Preview of the next chapter:**

"**Derek…that was really nice today," Casey said tentatively, unsure of how he would react. But really, he was so cute around Marti, almost like a nice guy instead of the stepbrother she knew and (rarely) loved.**

"**You mean **_**I **_**was really nice today," he corrected, smirking down at her. "It happens sometimes."**

**Okay, so maybe she loved him a little more than rarely. The side of her mouth twitched in an almost smile. "Are you bringing anyone to school tomorrow?"**

"**I don't know, maybe my annoying stepsister?"**

**She smacked him but laughed, glad that he had offered. "Okay, thanks—night Derek."**

"**Night Casey."**

**REVIEW!!**


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